Jail counselor charged with child porn

An Oceanside man who worked as a jail counselor for the Sheriff’s Department and who previously was a foster parent has been arrested and charged with distribution of child pornography, the FBI said.

Jeffrey Alan Lee, 44, was arrested at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the downtown jail by FBI agents and sheriff’s deputies, said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth. Lee appeared Wednesday before a federal judge in San Diego and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Jan Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, said Wednesday that Lee worked as a correctional counselor at the central jail downtown. She said she could not answer other questions about Lee because it is a personnel matter.

According to a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in San Diego, Lee distributed child pornography through file-sharing programs to undercover FBI agents.

Lee’s home was searched Tuesday by FBI agents, who seized 11 computers, about 1,500 video files and “tens of thousands” of still images, Foxworth said.

The complaint said the pornography included sexually explicit images of infants, bestiality, bondage and violence involving children, and that agents also seized whips, switches and paddles at Lee’s home.

Agents also found that Lee previously had custody of a 9-year-old boy in foster care for about 18 months, and that investigation is ongoing, Foxworth said.